Well Designed Contemporary Furniture

By reading the many publications devoted to interior decoration, the prospective consumer has become well informed about the styles he can expect to find in the stores. His taste has become increasingly surer, and he is now freer to pick and choose among the many contemporary furniture styles developed and made available to him during the past decade.

The high-style inspiration in designing furnishings still stems from the individual designer. Designers are now involved in the planning stages of the choice of material, color, texture, and added decors for any furnishing.

There were no striking new design developments or innovations in 1963-the Mediterranean look still predominated. It influenced the total interior effect, as well as details in furnishings. This style, which began rather timidly a few years ago, became dominant in bedroom furnishings. The Spanish revival in 1963 was, interestingly enough, more a restoration of the Spanish-Moorish furniture popular in the 1920’s than a reintroduction of sixteenth-century antiques. It is a style that combines well with simple contemporary furniture and accessories.

In addition to the prevailing Mediterranean look, there was a trend toward mixing contemporary furnishings with furniture and details, not necessarily antiques, from the Victorian and Edwardian eras. Stores stocking secondhand gold letters (from demolished buildings) and wire carpet beaters became unexpectedly popular, and prices soared on rare items that were once common. The general effect of this blending of old styles with new is one of great sophistication, even on low-budget levels, and is considerably more congenial and attainable than the gilded elegance that characterized previous returns to the past for design inspiration.

No longer are imported accessories available only through decorators and expensive boutiques. Recently specialty shops have opened in far-flung rural and suburban areas. In addition, dime stores offered well-designed ceramic bowls from Japan, crewel embroideries from Pakistan, metalwork from India and Israel, and pottery from Portugal. Mail-order business in imported decorative accessories also rose in volume. One of the easiest ways to purchase any contemporary furniture is through online internet. It is the newest technology that brought much ease and simplicity in purchasing at your own convenience.

An outgrowth of the White House renovation was the increased interest in good American furniture not ordinarily identified before with the American tradition. The lesser-known styles contemporary with English Regency, French Directoire and Empire, and German Biedermeier were being used more often, and the ornate Victorian was also rediscovered and re-evaluated. Reintroduced into American homes were roll-top desks, Murphy beds, chifforobes, and wicker furniture. Keeping this in mind, designers turned the roll-top desk into an elegant piece of furniture.

Contemporary furniture became the latest trend as far as furnishing is concerned. There are an increasing number of people who chose this kind of style over the other existing ones.